Morning Song

Poetry | Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath's use the theme of motherhood in her poem Morning Song

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Morning Song depicts a new mother s conflicting ambivalent emotions about motherhood Elucidate Or How does Sylvia Plath use the theme of motherhood in her poem Morning Song Or How does Sylvia Plath present motherhood in her poem Morning Song Sylvia Plath wrote Morning Song in after the birth of her first child Frieda It was later published in Ariel The poem describes the arrival of a baby and the first days of motherhood Plath does not show only the joy of a mother She shows strangeness distance confusion tiredness tenderness and the slow growth of a bond between mother and child Motherhood is a Mixed Feeling at First Morning Song begins with the baby s birth The mother says Love set you going like a fat gold watch Here the baby s life is compared to a watch that starts ticking She also says the baby is a New

statue These images suggest her sense of detachment from the baby She sees the baby as a beautiful lifeless object Plath shows that she is still unable to connect with the baby emotionally Surprise and Helplessness In the second stanza Plath describes how the parents react The mother calls the baby a New statue It means the baby is beautiful and naked But still she is unable to connect with her baby emotionally The parents voices echo in the room as they look at their child The echo seems to welcome the arrival of the child However this is a completely new experience for the parents They do not seem to know what to do They just stand helplessly As the mother says We stand round blankly as walls Mother s Feeling of Distance The mother then speaks about her own feelings She expresses her feelings of distance She says she does not fully feel like the baby s mother I m no more your mother Than the cloud that distills a mirror She compares herself to a cloud that slowly disappears in the wind It shows her sense of disconnection from the baby She feels strange unsure and even separate from her child Love and Beginning of a Bond Now Plath shows that the mother slowly begins to feel love and connection with her child She admires the baby s small breaths and cries She calls it moth-breath She lies awake and listens to her baby s breath She compares the breath to the sound of a far sea in her ear calm and continuous As she says I wake to listen A far sea moves in my ear Even though the mother felt distant before now she listens carefully to the small sounds of her child It is the beginning of a gentle bond between mother and baby Tiredness and Dedication The poem also shows the physical tiredness of motherhood Plath says One cry and I stumble from bed cow-heavy The baby cries She gets up quickly and goes to the baby Though she feels cow-heavy meaning very tired and slow still she quickly goes to the baby This shows her dedication as a mother Beginning of Communication In the final stanza the baby makes little sounds She calls it the baby s handful of notes These small cries rise like balloons in the air For the mother these sounds are like musical notes It shows the beginning of communication between mother and child In fine Sylvia Plath presents motherhood in a very real way in Morning Song A mother can feel strange surprise helpless and distant from their newborn child at first Soon enough the mother begins to feel love and connection with her child The poem is like a mother s journey from shock and distance to care and intimacy Motherhood is a totally new experience for a mother

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